Bobbin cleaner



Nov. 24, 1936. E KIMBRL 2,062,225

BOBBIN CLEANER 4 Filed Oct. 51, 1954 L5 1 [III I FLEXIBLE 2 M 'Juhu/ E. mp AM 71 Patented Nov. 24, 1936 PATENT OFFICE,

BOBBIN CLEANER Julius Edwin Kimbirl, Charlotte, N. 0., assignor to The Terrell Machine Company, Charlotte,

N. 0., a, corporation Application October 31, 1934, Serial No. 750,912

6 Claims.

The invention has relation to machines of the class used in the textile industry for the purpose of stripping so-called feeler-waste, i. e., residues of weft or filling, from bobbins that have been expelled from the working shuttle of an automatic weft-replenishing loom in the performance of bobbin-changing operations brought about under the control of a so-called weft or fillingfeeler. More particularly, it relates to bobbinstripping machines of the type having blades or the like by which the residue of weft or filling remaining on an expelled bobbin is removed from the bobbin-barrel by a scraping action taking place lengthwise along the bobbin-barrel. An example of this type of machine to which the present invention is adapted, is illustrated in the patent to Edgar A. Terrell, No. 1,740,128, dated December 17, 1929.

A special object of the present invention is to provide a machine of the type illustrated in the aforesaid patent with a simple mechanism for blowing from the interior or bore of the bobbin any lint that may have collected therein, this air-blasting of the lint out of the interior of the bobbin taking place during the usual stripping operations and without delaying or interfering therewith in the least, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing annexed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my device, this view including so much of the frame of the regular stripping machine as is needed to illustrate an arrangement of parts on the machine;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.

35 Referring to this drawing by reference characters, 5 designates the usual pusher in bobbin stripping machines of the type referred to. This pusher is ordinarily provided with a bobbin-tip seat which is adapted to receive the tip end of 40 the bobbin and to push it endwisely through the scraping knives. In the present instance, I substitute an air nozzle 6 which is fastened to the upper side of the pusher and is provided at its forward end with a tip-seat 1 into which is di- 4 rected an air-jet 8 so positioned that when the bobbin tip rests in said seat 1 its exit end will be aligned with the bore of the bobbin. An air-pipe 9 is connected to the inlet end of the nozzle jet 8 and at a suitable point in its length it is provided with a flexible section I0, made of air-hose or other flexible tubing.

At a point in the length of the pipe 9, between the flexible section and the inlet end I l (which inlet is of course connected with a source of compressed air, not shown) there is inserted in the pipean air-valve I2, the valve-disk of which is provided with a stem l3 which extends out through a stuffing box in the valve casing. Affixed to the pipe 9 at a point between the flexible section and the nozzle is a horizontal rod M' which is adapted to slide back and forth through a guide-hole in a bracket l5 mounted at a suitable place on the frame of the stripping machine, this bracket serving also' as a means of support for the pipe 9 at a point beyond the flexible section thereof. The rod I4 is provided with a tappet I6 whose actuating face or lug lies in the horizontal path of the valve-stem 13, this tappet being adjustable along the length of the rod to enable thev appliance to be adapted for bobbins of different lengths.

When the bobbin has gravitated to cleaning position, with its tip resting in seat I, the pusher 5 is pushed toward the usual stripping blades to thus strip from the bobbin the usual feeler-waste; At a suitable point in the endwise movement of the bobbin, preferably after the usual gripper jaws have grasped the larger end of the bobbin for the purpose of pulling it far enough to complete the stripping action, the tappet l6 contacts with the stem l3 and thus opens theair-valve. The air-blast travels through the pipe 9 and causes a jet to issue out of the nozzle jet 8 and thence throughout the length of the bore of the bobbin, thereby effectively clearing out any lint that may have collected in the bore. After this interior cleaning of the bobbin has been accomplished, the pusher 5 is moved rearwardly to its bobbin-receiving position, thus allowing the air-valve to close and putting the appliance in condition for another operation upon the succeeding bobbin. The insertion of a flexible section In in the air-pipe 9 enables the operations above described to take place without the use of telescopic pipe sections or other undesirable devices.

I claim:

1. In combination with a bobbin-stripping machine having as an element a bobbin-pusher to shift a bobbin endwise for stripping it, an airnozzle mounted on said pusher and provided with a tip-seat for a bobbin, said air-nozzle being movable back and forth with said pusher in the usual stripping operations, and means for supplying a blast of air to said nozzle actuated by the movement of said pusher to deliver a blast of air to the nozzle at the forward end of the stroke of the pusher, said means embodying an air-supply pipe connected to the nozzle and having a flexible section, a valve in said pipe at a point between said flexible section and the inlet end of the pipe, and a valve-actuating appliance attached to the pipe at a point between said flexible section and the nozzle and provided with means for opening said valve when the pusher has reached approximately the end of its bobbin-shifting stroke.

2. The structure recited in claim 1, said means embodying an air-blast pipe having its outlet end connected to said nozzle and having a flexible section in its length, a bracket fastened to the frame of the machine and attached to that sec,- tion of the pipe between its inlet end and the flexible section, a valve-rod attached to that section of the pipe between the flexible section and the nozzle and having a sliding support on said bracket, a valve in said pipe at the point where it is fastened to said bracket, and a tappet on said valve-rod arranged to actuate said valve to open position when the pusher with its nozzle has reached approximately the end of its pushing stroke.

3. Bobbin-cleaning apparatus comprising a reciprocable bobbin pusher to shift a bobbin endwise for stripping it and having an air discharge port and a seat for an end of a bobbin both borne by the pusher to reciprocate therewith, said seat being correlated with said port for support of said bobbin end with the central bore of the bobbin, in endwise register with the air discharge port as the pusher shifts the bobbin on its stripping movement, and means for supplying a blast of air to the discharge port actuated by the bobbin-shifting movement of the pusher to deliver a blast of air to said discharge port to blow out the bore of the bobbin when the bobbin has been advanced in its stripping movement.

4. Bobbin-cleaning apparatus comprising a reciprocable bobbin pusher to shift a bobbin endwise for stripping it and having an air discharge port and a seat for the end of a bobbin both borne by the pusher to reciprocate therewith, said seat being correlated with said'port for support of said bobbin end with the central bore of the bobbin in endwise register with the air discharge port as the pusher shifts the bobbin on its stripping movement, an air supply conduit in delivery connection with said discharge port and having valve means to control flow of air through the conduit to said port, and means actuated by the bobbin-shifting movement of the pusher to operate said valve means to admit a blast of air from the conduit to the discharge port to blow out the bore of the bobbin when the bobbin has been advanced in its stripping movement.

5. Bobbin-cleaning apparatus according to claim 4, characterized .in that the said valve means is mounted in a fixed position, the air supply conduit has a flexible section between the valve means and the said air discharge port, and a valve-operating device is operatively connected to the bobbin pusher for reciprocation therewith to operate the valve means for flow of air through the conduit to the discharge port to blow out the bore of the bobbin when the bobbin has been advanced in its stripping movement.

6. Bobbin-cleaning apparatus comprising a bobbin mover shiftable to move a bobbin endwise fcr stripping it and having an air discharge port and bobbin-supporting means both borne by the bobbin mover to shift therewith, said bobbin-supporting means being correlated withsaid port for support of an end of a bobbin in a position with the central bore of the bobbin in endwise register with the port as the bobbin mover shifts the bobbin on a stripping movement, and means for supplying a blast of air to 5;.

the discharge port actuated by the bobbin-shifting movement of the bobbin mover to deliver a blast of air to said discharge port to blow out the bore of the bobbin when the bobbin has been advanced in its stripping movement.

JULIUS EDWIN KIMBIRL. 

